Dubai: Power and performance will not have it all their way in driving the dynamics of the global automotive industry — efficiency in how fuel is used will be just as decisive. So believes Bill Ford junior, who traces a direct lineage to the pioneering Henry Ford and whose assembly lines created the building blocks for the industry of today.
“Irrespective of what the price of fuel is, if we are able to save customers money and fuel and still deliver a great performance, that would be great,” said Ford junior, Executive Chairman of the company that bears his family name. “We don’t those big engines any longer to deliver that kind of performance any longer.
“A lot of people thought we were crazy when we put in an EcoBoost in the Mustang and everyone said it can only carry a V8. We put in a V6 and we sure sold a heck of a lot of Mustangs with it.”
Ford junior is not just doing the talking … his company is actually walking it. A case in point is the new F-150 pickup, as all-American a vehicle as the Mustang. The new version is clad in an all-aluminium body, which immediately lowers the mass and translates into improved gains on fuel economy and a lot more besides. (The current model will be introduced in the local market during the first quarter of 2015.)
Ford Motors has got big plans for this region. It was late last year that the Middle East and Africa territory was upgraded to a full-fledged operational division within the company’s hierarchy. It meant a more focused push with new models — 25 of them by 2017 — into these markets and coupled to a greater flexibility in how it went about chasing growth. (By 2020, the 67 markets combined could have industry-wide sales of 5.5 million vehicles.)
“No longer do we make specific cars suited to any particular market,” said Ford junior “Instead what we did was create a suite of global products after 2007-09 and from which individual regional operations could pick and choose models that they see as ideal for their markets. The company is in a much better position.
“The way we see it, the Middle East is the place to be. The spirit in Dubai is always looking to the future and that’s so important to our industry.”
On whether the automotive majors are too enamoured by technology, Ford junior said: “We were a car and truck maker … now we are a mobility company. Ford Motors works very closely with a lot of technology companies, big and small.
“But it’s customers who will tell you what they want in a product … it’ll be a fool’s errand to think otherwise.”
On the number of recalls the industry has had to go through in recent years, Ford junior said: “Any time you add technology to a product, there’s bound to be risk. But it’s better than not taking on any risks at all.
“Do we build everything perfectly? Certainly not … we aim to do that but there will always be some risk.
“A lot of technology is already being added to our vehicles to make them safer for the roads. It’s happening now and people may not even be realising it.”
